digital music and the music business

Will Major Music Publishers Allow Last.fm To Go YouTube Only?

Last.fm, owned by CBS Interactive, is not looking like it's going to be a big winner in the streaming music space. It's been in geographic retreat. It's losing money. It's no longer a taken for granted reference point when discussing streaming music services or web radio. So their current test of a YouTube-powered music player raised some questions as to their future plans. But if they do try to go All YouTube, All The Time, it makes one wonder if music publishers and rights holders will allow that to happen.

He said that services that relied solely on YouTube and SoundCloud would eventually face licensing issues if they got popular. As small players they are generally ignored but once they show signs of life, high traffic, funding, lots of media coverage, then rights holders would be tracking them down.

Such was the case for HypedMusic which, according to its creator, made it to no. 28 on the U.S. iTunes Free Music Apps chart and no. 1 in France and on other international iTunes stores. HypedMusic shut down after an initial RIAA warning because the owner was not prepared for a legal fight.

Though CBS can certainly handle some court action, it seems unlikely that their lawyers would cosign a total shift to YouTube without considering the issue of licensing.

Perhaps Last.fm's Plans Are A Bit More Complicated

Obviously we'll see how this plays out.

But if they can figure out a way to have a free YouTube-powered service that cuts licensing fees even if it doesn't eliminate them, then that could become their free ad-supported service allied with an ad-free subscription service.

Not sure how plausible that is but I imagine the next move will be based on whether or not listeners show an interest in the new option.

Hypebot Senior Contributor Clyde Smith (Twitter/Facebook) is currently relaunching All World Dance. To suggest topics about music tech, DIY music biz or music marketing for Hypebot, contact: clyde(at)fluxresearch(dot)com.